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Beware! Dogs May Get Sick on Chewing Sugar-free Gum!

by Reshma Anand on Nov 4 2015 2:12 PM

Beware! Dogs May Get Sick on Chewing Sugar-free Gum!
Sugar-free gum may be harmful for dogs, revealed a newspaper. According to the Wall Street Journal, sugar-free gum contains Xylitol, which is said to be 100 times more toxic to dogs than milk chocolate.
Xylitol is mostly used in products //like mints, gummy vitamins, toothpaste, specialty peanut butter and melatonin sleep aids. It has about two-thirds the calories of sugar and is safer than cane sugar for diabetics.

“There appears to be a surge in the number of cases of dogs becoming sick from xylitol ingestion," the paper said: “We’ve seen a dramatic increase,” Dr. Ahna Brutlag, a veterinary toxicologist, told the Journal in an interview. In 2015, there have already been 2,800 calls to the Pet Poison Helpline due to the sweetener being ingested by canines, up from 300 calls in 2009.

The American company Hersheys also sells a lot of sugar free gum containing xylitol across the country.

“We certainly understand the deep passion that pet owners have for their animals, but there are many foods and ingredients, including xylitol-containing foods, intended for human consumption that should not be consumed by animals or pets,” a Hershey spokesman told the Journal.

Source-Medindia


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